HP Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem User Manual
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Introduction 11
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HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet Module for BladeSystem c-Class
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HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric 10Gb/24-port Module for BladeSystem c-Class, which provides the
capability to configure Ethernet and FC/FCoE or iSCSI connections
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HP Virtual Connect Flex-10/10D Module for BladeSystem c-Class
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VC-FC modules
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HP 4Gb Virtual Connect Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem (VC v4.01 is the last
release that will support this module.)
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HP Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel Module for BladeSystem c-Class (enhanced NPIV)
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HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-Port Fibre Channel Module for BladeSystem c-Class
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HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 20-Port Fibre Channel Module for BladeSystem c-Class
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HP Virtual Connect Manager
Virtual Connect implements server edge virtualization between the server and the data center infrastructure
so networks can communicate with individual servers or pools of HP BladeSystem servers, and so you can
upgrade, replace, or move server blades within the enclosures without changes being visible to the external
LAN and SAN environments. The external networks connect to a shared resource pool of servers rather than
to individual servers. Virtual Connect cleanly separates server enclosure administration from LAN and SAN
administration.
VCM is embedded on VC-Enet modules. You can access VCM through a web-based GUI or CLI. The
Onboard Administrator provides a web link to the Virtual Connect GUI. The CLI can be accessed remotely
through any SSH session or through the Onboard Administrator CLI.
The VC modules support the HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure, the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure, and
all the server blades and networks contained within the enclosure. FlexFabric modules are only supported in
BladeSystem c7000 enclosures with G6 or newer server blades or Integrity i2 and i4 server blades with
Virtual Connect firmware v3.15 and later.
VC-Enet modules enable connectivity to data center Ethernet switches. VC-Enet modules can also be directly
connected to other types of devices, such as printers, laptops, rack servers, and network storage devices.
The VC-FC and FlexFabric modules enable connectivity of the enclosure to data center FC switches. Every FC
fabric is limited in the number of switches it can support, but the VC-FC modules do not appear as switches
to the FC fabric and do not count against FC fabric limits.
A basic Virtual Connect domain includes a single HP c-Class BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure for a total of 16
servers (or up to 32 servers if the double-dense option is enabled), or a single HP c-Class BladeSystem c3000
Enclosure for a total of 8 servers (or up to 16 servers if the double-dense option is enabled). For more
information on the double-dense option, see "Double-dense server bay option" in the user guide. Within the
domain, any server blade with the requisite LAN or SAN devices can access any LAN or SAN connected to
a VC module, and a server blade of a given processor type (Integrity or X86) can be used as a spare for any
server blade of the same processor type within the same enclosure, as long as the server has the requisite
number and type of connections. Using network access groups feature, the network administrator can clearly
define a separation of networks based on their allowed functionality and prevent the server administrator
from assigning specific network combinations in the same server profile.
By stacking (cabling) the VC-Enet modules together within the domain and connecting the VC-FC or
FlexFabric module FC uplinks on the same bay of all enclosures to the same FC switch, every server blade in
the domain can be configured to access any external network or fabric connection. With this configuration,
you can use VCM to deploy and migrate a server blade profile to any server in the Virtual Connect domain
without changing external LAN or SAN configurations.